At the March 6, 2018 Board Meeting, our Board Directors passed a resolution on school safety. The resolution calls for lawmakers to pass legislation that will protect our students, schools, and community from future gun violence. It also calls upon the District to review our policies, plans, and funding for school safety to identify clear steps we can take to improve student safety.

Translated versions: Spanish / Simplified Mandarin

RESOLUTION NO. 2018-05

March 6, 2018

The Bellevue School District Board of Directors (the Board):

recognizes that gun violence presents a continuing danger to the education and safety of students, faculty, and staff. The lives of hundreds of students and school employees have been needlessly lost due to the scourge of gun violence, from Columbine to Sandy Hook, and most recently to Parkland, as well as in our own state.

recognizes that the passage of sensible gun laws is critical to protect our children, our schools, and our community from such violence.

shares the concerns of students, parents, teachers, leadership, and staff regarding safety in our schools and is committed to ensuring it protects our students, staff, and community in accordance with the district’s mission, vision, and guiding principles.

acknowledges that the teachers and staff in the Bellevue School District are appropriately focused on educating and supporting our students academically and emotionally, and should not be additionally burdened with the responsibility of carrying a firearm nor developing firearms training skills as part of their professional duties.

Therefore, in support of school safety for our students, staff and community, the Board:

commits to work with the Superintendent to review Bellevue School District policies, implementation plans, and funding relating to student and school safety, thoroughly exploring reasonable steps, both immediate and longer term, to ensure the safety of staff, students, and community, and to revise such policies, plans, and funding as needed.

supports the right of students of the Bellevue School District to advocate for outcomes relating to school safety, including through the exercise of peaceful demonstrations. To this end, the Board

calls upon the Superintendent to ensure that, in the event that students call for organized and peaceful demonstrations, schools provide safe spaces on campus for students to gather peacefully and express their views, regardless of viewpoint and without academic penalty, if such demonstrations otherwise comply with school district policies; and to ensure further, that students’ rights to not participate in such protests are also respected.

calls upon the Washington State Legislature and the United States Congress to enact legislation that

  • effectively regulates access to firearms in the interests of school safety;
  • funds physical improvements needed to ensure schools are not easily accessed by those not authorized to be on campus when school is in session;
  • funds mental health support needed to identify and counsel students who may be at risk of causing harm to others; and
  • includes the viewpoints of students, teachers, and school leaders as it develops and enacts such legislation.

commits to advocate for these legislative actions and to make itself available to support the Washington State Legislature and United States Congress as needed in advancing the cause of student safety in our country.

ADOPTED this 6th day of March, 2018.

The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.